Days removed from a brutal home-opening loss, it's time to take out the emotion and see what the Browns did well and where things went wrong. Here are three takeaways about the Browns' defense from their Week 1 game against the Bengals after watching the all-22 film.
3 Browns' defense takeaways following Week 1 vs Bengals
Pass rush was dominant & Mason Graham is creating openings for others
All offseason, it's been clear that the way the Browns are going to win games in 2025 is on the back of the defensive line. That was on full display in Week 1, as the Browns' pass rush did a great job causing havoc and making life as hard on Joe Burrow as possible. Per PFF, the Browns had the fourth-best pass rush grade of any team in the first week of the season, thanks to 15 pressures and three (consecutive) sacks.
Most notably, Mason Graham was seeing double teams on the interior seemingly on every snap. PFF also charted Graham for being double-teamed at a 45.45 percent rate in Week 1, which was higher than Myles Garrett (granted Garrett was chipped at a 56 percent rate). Regardless, Graham was creating one-on-ones for guys like Isaiah McGuire, Maliek Collins, and Garrett (to a degree), and it allowed them to generate consistent pressure rushing four or five.
Greg Newsome is poised for a big year back on the outside
Greg Newsome is back to his natural role on the outside following the injury to Martin Emerson Jr., and he proved what he can do back as a feature cornerback in this system. There were a few reps where the Bengals noticed they had Ja'Marr Chase on Newsome, not Denzel Ward, in man-to-man coverage, and attacked him. He held up well, allowing no receptions on two targets, but he did have one pass interference on a call that could have gone either way.
When money downs came up, Schwartz wanted to show mug fronts with man coverage and one safety deep for help. Newsome's ability to lock down whoever comes his way will do wonders opposite an All-Pro talent in Ward.
Bengals did a good job isolating Denzel Ward in run game early
The Bengals did get off to a strong start, scoring on the opening drive and running the ball without much trouble. Along with getting solid push, Cincinnati did a solid job schematically isolating Ward in the run game and forcing him to come downhill and make tackles. Ward was charted to have three missed tackles, with possibly all coming on the first drive in the game. One time came on Chase in the pass game, but there were a few occasions of Ward being left unblocked, and he didn't make the play.
As an outside corner with his frame, especially considering his injury history, tackling is never going to be a strength. He's usually much better than this, and it shouldn't be too much of a concern going forward unless it isn't cleaned up.